Ignition
by MyHairyFace
Summary: Maka is the best Paramedic Death City has ever seen, but she has a problem: she doesn't care for the legal side of life-saving. So that's why she's been transferred, again, but this time: to a firehall where she's assigned a babysitter. A head firefighter, Soul Eater Evans is now given the impossible task of making sure the plucky EMT stays within her legal limits.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't the first time this had happened.

Maka Albarn was, by anyone's standards, amazing. She was top of her class, finishing what should have been a two year program in only one. She did her thousand and two hundred 'training' hours happily, and almost anyone she worked with would tell you about her drive and passion for saving lives. She _liked _being an EMT, and she liked being a paramedic even more.

But it just _kept _happening.

It was frustrating, because when life or death was on the line, sometimes Maka made decisions that maybe weren't necessarily the safest for her or her hospitals insurance. But she couldn't bring herself to care, honestly.

It didn't really seem to matter to her that at four in the morning as she and her partner, Hiro, drove through the empty streets of Death city, that she ran a red light.

She was in an _ambulance. _Who cares what the local authorities had decided about emergency vehicles needing to come to a full stop at a red light?

Even when there wasn't a goddamn car in sight.

Even when she was on a call for cardiac arrest.

Even when she could _prove _that if she had been even ten seconds later to the scene, the man she treated would have died.

How was she supposed to know a red-light camera would catch her and her ambo?

She didn't.

But, it wasn't the first time these things happened.

Like when she pushed Hiro out of the way because he was unsure of going into a dark basement where a woman was screaming out in pain.

Yeah, she should have waited for the cops or the fire department to get there first, but since when did Maka Albarn depend on anyone?

Maybe that situation wasn't the best one to exemplify, because as it turned out, the man waiting in that basement with a large knife was kind of a problem for her… But she had _survived. _She was just fine, she didn't understand why it was _even still something people felt the need to talk about._

Even more so, she didn't understand why that _one stupid instance _would cause… this.

So what? She had a record for saving tons of lives, who cared if she was almost impossible to insure? Yeah, okay, she was expensive, to say the least.

But she was still pretty sure that shouldn't matter.

She had one of the highest success rates with patients of anyone in the state, let alone her hospital.

And yet… despite all that, here she was.

Transferred.

To a _fire hall._

Her lip curled in dismay when she turned into the large, painted red station. She hardly needed to scan the parking lot for her own space, the crisp lettering on the brand-new sign stood out among the others.

"Maka Albarn."

Her own parking spot. Wow.

She defiantly turned into visitor parking, empty for the moment, and parked there.

Probably a rude gesture, but hey, maybe that's what she was going for. As far as she was concerned, it was exactly what she was here.

A visitor.

Besides, she didn't want to park next to the flashy yellow motorcycle anyway. Or, she corrected herself, the flashy yellow _death machine._

Honestly, if that was in fact one of the fire halls resident's actual _choice_ of transportation, she was going to hate it here more than she already knew she would.

Now she got the pleasure of working with complete _idiots._

It took a few moments of closed eyes and hard swallows to wash away images of mangled teenagers and motorcycle crashes. In those few moments, she also took the chance to collect herself a little.

This was where she had been assigned now, so there was no point in complaining about it. She'd just do what she always did: save lives. It didn't matter where she was, as long as she could keep doing that.

Right?

Sure.

She stepped out of her car and frowned up at the big building, her new _home_, before walking solemnly towards it

There was a lot of pausing and tentative walking across the parking lot, summed up when she got to the door. She didn't grab the handle, didn't do the whole 'hike up your socks and jump right back in' thing, she just stared at the glass.

Not that she _cared_, but…

How many more times was she going to get moved around?

She wasn't bad at her job; she just… wasn't the best at the whole 'red tape' thing.

She knew she was abrasive, knew that a lot of other EMT's didn't want to work with her, and if they did they asked to be reassigned fairly quickly. She hadn't really been connected to what everyone else affectionately referred to as their 'work families.' Maka didn't have any sort of family to speak of, except for an overprotective, slutty father.

His position as head surgeon at her last hospital job didn't do much for keeping her there though.

Whatever though, none of this mattered at all.

She finally grabbed the door handle and pulled it open.

Or rather… tried to.

It was _heavy! _She struggled for a second, her large gym bag falling off her shoulder. She caught it on the inside of her elbow, while simultaneously trying to shoulder-check the door open. Just as she thought she was going to fall into her new workplace in the most embarrassing, unceremonious way imaginable, a strong hand caught the door just above her head.

She froze in her ungraceful acrobatic stance in the door frame, looking up at the man standing in front of her.

"Careful," he grunted, "doors a little heavy."

Yeah, easy for _him _to say. His arms were a few miles past muscular, but that wasn't what she noticed first about him. His dishevelled shock of white hair is what her gaze fell on instantly. It wasn't made better with the contrast to his black t-shirt, almost forcing her to stare at it.

He stared at her, a little uncomfortable,

"Are you uh… gonna go inside or..?" He held the door open a little further,

She flushed, despite herself, and hurried through the door, not shooting him another glance.

"You're _welcome._" He said behind her. It was quiet enough that it could have been under his breath, but she heard it just fine.

_Great first impression, idiot._

She scolded herself, already appearing too weak to open the goddamn _front door_. She was hyperaware of the sexism commonly exhibited in firehouses, and being the weak-paramedic-girl was _not _something she was going to deal with.

She probably shouldn't have been so rude to whoever that was too.

But oh well.

She walked quickly down the main corridor, following signs easily to the chief's office. She didn't pass anyone else, but could hear soft conversations coming from what was probably the common room.

"Miss Albarn!" a large man greeted her before she could even knock on the open door. She was a little taken off guard, but took a firm step in the door,

"T-that's me!" she said, walking further into the room with a gesture from the man. He was tall, with dark skin and a muscular build (she must have forgotten firefighters would be built as hell. She felt scrawny in comparison to it all, to be honest).

"Have a seat," he said happily, gesturing to the chair across from his desk. She complied quickly, putting her duffle-bag on the ground next to her.

"It's nice to meet you sir," She said, trying to keep her face as 'business' as possible. The chief was a little laid back for her taste…

"Oh no, no, no 'sir' unless I'm givin' you orders! Call me Sid, that's the kind of man I am!" Sid smiled broadly at her, and she tried to fake her best 'I'm happy to be here' look.

"Um, okay, Sid."

"Good good." he hummed, looking down at a file in his hands. His expression slid into 'serious' faster than Maka would have imagined possible for the man, "So I hear you're a bit of a trouble maker, hm?"

"N-no, of course not!" Maka tried to squash the burning feeling seeping through her body, "I just—"

"You just don't like following the laws put in place to protect people like you and I." He wasn't scolding her, just telling it like it was. She didn't even reply, just hunched her shoulders a little and glared at a poor, defenceless potted plant in the corner.

"I get it," Sid sighed, putting her file back down on her desk, "But there's obviously a good reason they sent you here."

"To get rid of me," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. She probably looked like a grumpy two year old, but she could care less. Sid laughed loudly, startling her a little,

"I like you, Albarn." He laughed before hardening his expression again quickly. It was giving her whiplash, "but I won't be so tolerant of behavior like this," he put his index finger on her file, "so we'll have to work something out."

"Okay." She huffed.

She didn't _want _to be disobedient or whatever it was, she just got… _preoccupied _when someone was _dying_. Sue her.

Oh wait…

"Well!" Sid said, standing to his feet. And she thought he was large just _sitting…_ "Let's go meet the family!"

_Family. _

The word stung her a little.

She didn't mean to stare up at him wide-eyed, but his warm smiled snapped her out of it. She nodded slowly, standing from the chair and grabbing her bag.

_Let's meet the obnoxiously burly firemen and their charming sexism. Awesome._

She followed Sid to a large room, trying to bite back her scowl. One half was an open kitchen and dining table surrounded by old and worn down looking wooden chairs. Across the room were four equally worn couches facing a beat-up television.

That didn't surprise Maka at all, what _did _was how _bored_ everyone looked. There were a group of people playing cards at the table, a man and woman lounging on couches across from each other watching a cooking show and another watching the toaster for, what Maka _hoped _was their toast or pop-tart or _something _cooking. Please God let the woman not have been bored enough to just be staring at a kitchen appliance.

"Yo!" Sid announced, as if he needed to, everyone was already staring at them, "this is our newest EMT, Maka Albarn!"

A few faces seemed to light up instantly, notably the girl staring at the toaster. Maka smiled, trying to relax,

"Hello," she did an awkward little wave to the room which was returned by a few grins. The two lying on the couches stopped caring pretty quickly, going back to watching their TV show disinterestedly.

Sid patted her on the back and then, without another word, turned and walked out of the room, muttering something about being back in a minute.

She hardly had the chance to stand awkwardly alone, the perky girl at the toaster rushing her quickly. Short blonde hair bounced with every child-like step she took towards her,

"Maka eh?" She said, poking at her arm. Maka flinched away, blushing slightly,

"T-that's right," She replied.

"I'm Patti!" The woman pointed to her chest proudly before grabbing Maka around the wrist and pulling her towards the couches. Maka lurched forward, a 'GAH' sound escaping her lips before letting herself be toted along,

"Sissy!" Patti shouted, "New girl!"

"Mmhmm." The girl on the couch replied, waving her hand dismissively, "Maka Albarn, I heard." She finally looked up at her, "I'm Liz. Sorry, I'm uh, pretty wiped right now. I get to go home in an hour," the woman said wistfully.

Maka shuffled her feet a little,

"So, are you two are the other Paramedic team then?" she asked. It was then that the man lying on the opposite couch laughed loudly,

"Liz and Patti? Fixing people up? You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me." His blue nappy hair gave him a distinct appearance, even among the others, "You need some sort of like… what's the word… finesse, to do that shit."

Liz shot him a glare,

"Black Star, I'd kick your ass if I wasn't running on a 23 hour shift."

"Firefighters?" Maka nearly choked out.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Black Star said, sitting up from the couch.

Wow.

Being so preoccupied with fighting the sexism at firehouses she had just… wait, _she _was the one being sexist?!

"No! No of course not!" Maka raised her hands in front of her, "I think it's amazing!" She stammered.

Black Star raised an eyebrow at her,

"I dono how _amazing _it is," he shrugged, "I've pulled _way _more bitches out of fires than you two."

"Because you're _old_," Patti said, sticking her tongue out at him. Liz laughed,

"Yeah, just cause you've been doing it a couple years longer. Prick." She tossed the remote at him but he caught it easily.

"DOES THIS MEAN I GET TO PICK WHAT WE WATCH?!"

"Fuck no." Liz growled. Black Star just pouted and sunk back into the cushions.

It was at the same moment that Sid re-entered the room, followed by a young woman and—

Oh shit.

White-haired-door-opener.

Liz exhaled happily, jumping up from her place on the couch,

"Eater, you're a god among men."

"Didn't have anything better to do," He shrugged, "Don't mind coming in a bit early."

She high-fived him as she left, calling behind her, "Patti! Let's go!"

Patti bounded behind her,

"Seeya Sid! Bye bye Kiddo!" She waved to a dark haired man at the table, who waved back,

"See you girls at home." The man replied as Soul walked over to the couch, plopping down where Liz had left. Black Star asked him something but Maka missed it. Sid was calling her over.

"This is your new partner, Tsubaki." He gestured to the dark haired woman beside him who bowed a little, muttering a shy but warm welcome. Maka went along with it, used to the formality of being paired with another.

She thought she was out of the woods, ready to go put her things in the locker she knew would be waiting for her, especially when Tsubaki was called over to the kitchen by the now apparently hungry Black Star to make him some food.

She wasn't.

"Oh, and one last thing." Sid said it in a tone that made Maka's stomach plunge. "Soul, you're assigned to making sure this one doesn't do anything illegal."

"WHAT?!" The word came from both parties respectively, but Soul stood to his feet.

"I'm not—what does that even—" Soul sputtered, walking over to the pair, "_Illegal?!"_

"She has a record of not liking to follow union or regional laws if it gets in the way of her—"

"_She _is RIGHT HERE." Maka stopped caring about undermining her superiors or being rude or whatever. That seemed to happen when she was angry. Lucky for her, Sid just chuckled and shook his head.

"And she has a bit of a temper."

It was now painfully obvious that almost everyone in the room was watching the little… situation unfold.

"So? Why _me?"_ Soul groaned, ignoring Maka completely.

"You're responsible! Think of it as a compliment." Sid sighed, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. Maka tried to interject, but was just talked over.

"What! No, she's working with Tsubaki right? Make her babysit!" Soul whined,

"Soul, you and I both know Tsubaki lacks a certain... strictness." Sid said, "she's still technically supposed to be 'keeping an eye on' Black Star right now." Sid made a face as every head turned toward the mentioned pair.

Black Star was currently balancing a large kitchen knife on his nose, while Tsubaki watched on, smiling and clapping, utterly impressed.

"Ughhh." Soul said, "This is _so _not in my job description."

"Even that's past the point! I don't NEED a… parole officer!" Maka fumed, "This whole discussion has been ridiculous from the start!"

Behind them, Black Star screamed and Tsubaki immediately starting applying some sort of medical care to his face, cooing over him. No one paid it any attention, so Maka didn't either.

"See? Listen to pigtails here!" Soul defended, gesturing to her.

"I beg your _pardon?!_ My name is NOT 'Pigtails!" Maka turned to him, unleashing full force angry-face at the firefighter.

"Jesus!" He brought his arms up, defensively flinching away from her before giving Sid an exasperated look, "How am I supposed to 'control' a ball of _literal _fire?!"

"You're a fireman," Sid shrugged, turning away, "You'll figure something out."

Soul stammered something, but Sid just waved his hand as he continued walking,

"My decision is final! That's the kind of man I am!"

Soul turned back to Maka, an expression of expectant-pain still all over his face,

"Please don't hit me."

"No promises!" She roared before turning on her heels and stomping off.


	2. Chapter 2

She had sat alone in the locker room for a lot longer than she needed to.

This was the worst part about being transferred to a fire hall; 24 hour shifts with people she didn't want to even spend five minutes with. Her medical bag was already organized neatly, she'd rearranged a few things in her new ambo, keeping it just the way she wanted, her clothes long folded and packed away in her locker.

Now what?

Wait for a call, like always. But doing what? Hiding?

She held her latest book lightly on her lap, the cold metal bench uncomfortable, but better than having to see the others just yet.

The spine cracked open and she made her mind up; reading in here for a while wouldn't be too bad.

At least she was alone.

"There you are."

Fuck.

She didn't look up from her book, but knew instantly who the voice belonged to. That Soul guy was standing in the door, and she knew he wasn't just talking to himself.

"Hello?" He said, walking towards her.

"What?" She said, looking up from her book. He was slouched a little, meandering towards her nonchalantly. He made an exasperated sound that was inherently _teenager _as he approached her, sitting down.

"I just wanted to talk to you,"

"About what?" She was still being short, and scolded herself momentarily for being so rude. She could at least _try _to make… friends.

"This whole… situation." he gestured to the two of them. She just stared at him expectantly.

"Just, when we're out on a call together, which might not even be that much, just like, be careful. Yeah?" He ran a hand through messy white hair and she tried to squish the overwhelming attractiveness of the action.

"Obviously I will." She blinked, "but we'll probably be on a bunch of calls together, won't we?"

"Yeah but, for car crashes and shit. It's not like I have to really worry about you running into a burning building." He eyed her suspiciously, "I _hope._"

"I've never…" she paused for a moment, but decided being honest wasn't a sign of weakness, "been on call for a fire before."

He just shrugged in reply,

"They're rare even for us. Fires aren't as everyday as everyone thinks they—"

Honestly, it could have been a movie, really, because no timing would ever be so perfect. Just as he was finishing the sentence, a loud siren blared through the building. A red light on the wall spun wildly, slapping the locker room with periodic light. Soul was to his feet in a flash, Maka right behind him. Sid's voice shouted over the loudspeakers, telling them a location and the situation.

"Or… you could go to an apartment kitchen fire on the first day." Soul said, grabbing Maka around the wrist and pulling her down the hallway.

She ignored the urge to pull away and let him pull her towards the garage.

A few others were already putting gear on quickly, and Soul dragged her over to his closet, talking as he quickly put on the, what Maka decided, looked like a three hundred pounds of gear.

"Look pigtails," he said, slapping red suspenders against his _toned as fuck chest._ Wah—wait, not a good time.

"_Maka_." she gritted, looking purposefully away from the offensively-unoffensive muscles.

"Er, right, Maka. I don't like this any more than you do, so let's just both agree to _not _break any laws or do anything stupid, okay?"

"I'm not a child." She glared at him, "or some… beginner. I've probably been doing this longer than you have, so you can drop the superiority act."

He sighed, plopping a helmet onto his head and raising the visor.

"You're stubborn, I get it, but in no way am I acting 'superior' to you. I don't give a fuck what you do, alright? I just don't want to in shit with Sid." There was a moment of silence, like he had decided that was all he wanted to say before getting a little spark of courage he didn't know he had before, "No, and you know what?" he continued, resolve sinking into his tone, he was ready now, so he turned to her, "Maybe you have been doing this longer than me, but I'm not the one will a million and ten legal infractions. Even if it's a stupid-ass one, there's still a reason Sid told me to watch out for you, and you can cry about it all you want, but it _does _mean something."

Maka stared at him, wide-eyed. Others ran past him onto their trucks but he held his ground, only mildly adjusting his large fire-retardant jacket.

It was rare someone stood up to her like this. It was rare because most people saw the volatile, angry, _aggressive _woman and backed off right away. They'd shoot her a look, roll their eyes, and then she'd hear them joking about how insane she was in the lunch room when they thought she out on a job.

I mean, it was a _man _telling her off so that made things a little more frustrating but… she didn't feel the usual burn of anger that went with it. She just looked down at her feet, bangs covering her eyes from him a little,

"I'm…" she muttered, a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry."

"W-what?" Soul said, a little shocked, a lot confused.

She just looked back up at him, a strange determination he would never understand in her eyes.

"I won't get you in shit," she said, turning and dashing off to her ambulance. "I promise!" she shouted behind her.

"Okay, um, good?" He replied, still confused as he jogged towards he truck. He didn't mean to watch her leave for as long as he did. Honest.

Tsubaki was sweet. Actually, Maka found herself feeling… happy to be paired with her. The woman greeted her shyly, apologizing for not properly introducing herself earlier before asking if she wanted to drive.

Anyone who asked Maka to drive was perfectly okay in her books.

And drive she did, following the big red truck easily, roaring through stoplights with a satisfied grin. She wouldn't get charged this time; she was just following the truck.

She was aware of the rebellious feeling, was careful to keep it in check. She'd made a promise, after all.

Maka had never been called to a fire before.

She'd dealt with burn victims countless times, but that was mostly at hospital receiving. She'd never been on site for one, and, at this moment, wished she still hadn't been.

Feeling helpless wasn't something Maka generally did. She certainly never felt _overwhelmed_. Well, today was a series of new feelings for the EMT.

They pulled up after the truck, and Maka could help staring up at the five story building. Smoke billowed out of every open window, a strange glow coming from what Maka would describe as the complex's heart.

Everyone from the truck ahead of her had already gotten to work; Maka could read the names printed across the backs of their uniforms. Two men, Ox and Harvar were pulling a large hose out from the side of the truck with practised muscle while another, Kid, popped a nearby hydrant.

Black Star and Soul were standing side by side, watching the building. Soul one hand on the radio attached to his collar, the other was holding an axe by his side.

"Negative," he said into the radio, eyebrows knit together, "structures been compromised I think."

Maka approached him slowly, hearing Sid's voice respond with something garbled by static. Soul seemed to know exactly what he was saying though, as he and Black Star exchanged glances.

"There's no way to tell." he responded

Tsubaki jogged a little, catching up to Maka. She was pulling an oxygen tank unit behind her.

"First thing we do," She said, smiling, "is check people who have already gotten out."

Maka tore her eyes away from the troubled Soul to the line of people sitting curbside. Some were sobbing quietly; others had the grime of smoke caked onto their skin.

"Right." She said, hurrying over to them.

They were easy to treat, a few cuts a scrapes, an older gentleman who needed smoke inhalation treatment: nothing she couldn't handle quickly.

By the time she'd finished with three quick check-ups, the others had attached the hose but were now _all_ just standing around, watching the fire burn on. She had noticed Black Star and Kid going into the building earlier, but they had only gone in the front lobby before leaving again.

"What are they _doing?_" Maka hissed to Tsubaki.

"They can't go in if it's going to fall apart," she smiled down at a little girl, a small pink band-aide in her hand. She stuck it over the girls elbow before patting her on the head. The girl smiled back weakly, "there. All fixed up."

Maka continued holding the mask over the older man's mouth.

It's not like she had any right to be questioning what the firemen were doing _even a little._ She didn't _need _to understand why they were or weren't doing something. It was like Soul had said; she was a professional, but so were they.

She wouldn't want Black Star looking over her shoulder as she handed out gauze and burn patches to first and second degree victims.

And that's what she was thinking as she turned back to the man, removing the oxygen,

"How's your breathing?" she asked. The man took a few normal breaths, and she could already tell he was fine before the words came out of his mouth.

She was about to reply, telling him something encouraging when a loud scream tore her attention away instantly. It only took her a second to figure out where it had come from. All the firemen were staring up at the building, so she followed their gaze quickly.

There, in the window of the second floor, was the silhouette of a little boy. The smoke enveloping him made it almost impossible to see, but he was definitely there.

Black Star ran into the truck almost the moment everyone had heard the scream, and brought it life faster than Maka could have _ever _started her ambo, let alone _maneuver _it closer to the building like he was. Soul hopped onto the back, and, although she wasn't sure how, knew he had started raising the ladder.

She stepped back from her patients, watching as Soul walked carefully up the still extending ladder, Kid following closely behind him.

Soul reached the window, his mask down, oxygen mask on. The smoke was thick, and his shoulder lights did little to illuminate the dark apartment. Flames cracked in the not-so-distance, probably just beyond the wall of the bedroom he was entering.

Maka heard his voice,

"Call out! Where are you?!" He shouted, but there was no reply.

He disappeared into the room then and Maka watched, tension as thick in her lungs as the smoke must have been to that child.

"Kid, I'm going in!" He shouted behind him,

"I'm with you." His friend replied, watching as Soul smashed the glass in the window and stepped into the bedroom.

The building creaked threateningly, she stomach dropping with every moment Soul and Kid were inside. Tsubaki had left her side, running to the driver's side of the truck and talking quickly to Black Star who shrugged and shook his head.

There was silence. Not a bad silence necessarily, but an odd one. Maka watched the window, not realizing how hard she was biting the inside of her cheek. She knew any second now, the slouched fireman would emerge with the little boy in his arms.

Any moment now.

He would.

He _would._

She was wringing her hands now.

And now she was going to look away. This was one of those 'watched pot' situations and she knew the best thing to do was to think about other—

And there he was.

Or at least… there, _someone _was.

Through the thick smoke a figure immerged, wood creaked and shattered as he almost _fell _out of the window. Maka gasped, watching as Kid tumbled forward, pushed through the window by Soul.

He dove out after him, the crowd gasping: Tsubaki screaming something as the small room collapsed off the side of the building. Well, it more _caved in _as Maka would describe it, but she wasn't really focused on that right now.

She didn't know what _the fuck _to do.

She saw Soul and Kid, dangling off a ladder lifted impossibly high, saw Black Star tearing up the ladder after them, Ox bringing it back to the ground as quickly as he could as Kilik shouted for them to just,

"Hang on! Don't you DARE let you, you hear me?!"

Maka's mouth was dry, Soul had one forearm wrapped tightly around a wrung, but his legs dangled dangerously: four stories off the ground and not being brought back down _nearly _fast enough. Kid was swearing, Maka was pretty sure, as Soul swung his legs a little.

Something fell.

Maka didn't want to look, didn't want to be here, didn't know _what to do _and didn't know what she was _going _to do if what fell was—

But it was just his helmet. It clattered to the ground, making the fall all the more real, but the ladder was almost fully retracted and Kid was already helping Soul lift the rest of his body more fully back onto the truck which gave Maka only the _slightest _moment of clarity but it was really all she needed to realize:

"The child." She breathed, gaze snapping back to the caved in room. Her heart sank, yet she felt her feet pulling her towards Soul and Kid, now on the top of the truck.

"Trying to outshine me yet again, eh Eater?!" Black Star slapped Soul on the back, words joking but voice quivering a little. Soul just exhaled a laugh,

"Something like that." He muttered, on his knees, catching his breath.

"Where's the kid?" She hadn't meant to sound like she didn't care. She _really _didn't because in all actuality, she cared a lot. She had hardly known any of them and watching two almost die had gouged at edges of something in her chest and she didn't know why and she didn't particularly like it.

So she did what she always did; got down to business. She saw the others bristle, Black Star's mouth fell open in disbelief but before the,

"Are you kidding me," could leave it, Soul interrupted. He wasn't offended, his tone matched Maka's perfectly,

"He ran down the stairs. He's scared, he might make it out the lobby."

"We should go in after him!" Kid panted, standing to his feet, "through the front."

"Yeah that's not happening." Ox replied, grim. He looked over his shoulder to the building that groaned and cracked, flames now blazing out from almost every window.

Maka stared at them all, offended look on her face.

"But that's your _job_," she hissed. She knew she was being childish, knew that they didn't want to leave that kid in there any more than she did.

"There's nothing we can do." Black Star crossed his arms over his chest, "It's not safe for us to go in there and we don't even know where he _is_. He might not have even…" he stopped as his gaze fell on Tsubaki, eyes wide with sadness. He sighed, walking over to her and extending an arm. She took a quick, albeit shy, step towards him and he draped his arm around her.

"There's nothing we can do." He said again, this time more quiet, a weird sort of comfort coming off of him. His seriousness seemed to send the group into a sad calm.

Well, most of the group.

There was a one Maka Albarn furiously stamping away from them.

_That's not good enough. _She fumed,

"Where's she going?" Kilik asked, adjusting the nozzle in his hands, the water spewing out in a wide birth. Ox was with him, helping him steer it towards the inferno.

No one answered, but Maka was far enough away from them now that even if they did, she wouldn't hear. There weren't any flames coming out from the bottom of the building. This was something anyone could have told you, but it made Maka's approach of the front doors possible. The hot, thick smoke had covered most of the block by now, but it wasn't impossible to walk through.

Her shirt was up over her nose and mouth quickly, and she tried to listen to the rational side of her brain. If it could kick in for even a _second, _she'd turn around and watch the building burn sadly with the rest of her new "family".

She scoffed as she kicked in the large double doors of the apartment complex. She could hear shouting behind her, an obvious fight breaking out but she wasn't about to care about that.

Maybe she'd get kicked out for good this time.

Well, she didn't care about that either.

She hadn't wanted to be moved to this division in the first place, and she hadn't wanted to work with firefighters who couldn't even _save a little boy_.

Inside the building was a lot worse than she imagined. A whooshing sound of fire made it almost impossible to hear anything, smoke bit at her eyes, forcing them into a squint and she was on her hands and knees almost instantly, gasping for clean air.

She needed to turn around, turn around and get back to the others.

Her body did the opposite, instead crawling to the stairs, she managed to choke out a:

"Where are you?!" Into the room. The only response was a loud bang; what she figured was a rafter falling onto the floor above her. She was continuing her ascent up the stairs when a small voice cooed:

"H-help me!"

Maka spun around, looking up the stairs to the next landing. There he was: a little boy, huddled in the corner whimpering. She got to her feet, running up the creaking wooden steps and grabbed the boy quickly. She couldn't afford speech, head spinning from the raised elevation of standing, the air thinner and thicker, smoke seeping into what felt like every cell in her body.

She more _fell _down the stairs than walked down them, pushing the boy in front of her the whole time. Her vision was swimming but she was pretty sure she remembered where the doors were.

A loud CRACK ripped through the room.

How she knew or saw what was happening before it did, she would never be able to tell you, but Maka pushed the child forcefully forward, sending him toppling to the ground and rolling, narrowly missing the four large rafters that crashed down between them. Flames shot up from them almost instantly, trapping her behind them. She fell back, arms raised up above her face, forearms almost instantly burnt, and the shoulder of her uniform catching slightly. She tried to beat out the flames growing closer to neck, managing to shout:

"GO! RUN!" To the boy. She watched him stumble away into the smoke and, for the first time in her career, felt panic grip her.

She fell to the ground, the flames on her shirt dying down, but still feeling the seer of heat on her exposed neck.

_This is how I die._

She wasn't as upset as she thought she'd be. It was a Zen feeling, like floating. Although, the medical side of her brain promised that was just the lack of oxygen.

But so be it.

Suffocating was better than burning to death anyway.

She heard the ceiling above her crack loudly once more, and shut her eyes tightly, bracing for the next impact of large wooden beams falling onto her.

There was another sound though.

It was…

Annoying.

Something hurt her arm.

Squeezing—pulling.

Her eyes opened slowly and tried to adjust to what she was looking at it front of her, but she couldn't. She just slowly shook her head, body limp.

Something pulled her legs out from under her, and it was then she realized she'd been lifted off the ground.

"Fucking—HELL!" He was shouting, side stepping a falling hunk of flaming building before kicking the shit out of a window. Every time his foot made contact he swore loudly until finally the pane shattered and he managed to lift himself, and the half conscious girl in his arms through it.

She realized what was going on, but couldn't really respond to any of it. Soul was staggering away from the burning building with her in his arms.

The impossibly loud CRASH behind her drowned out the shouting from the others around her and Maka realized the building had finally completely come down. There was something over her mouth—a respirator.

She was momentarily impressed she figured it out before feeling a burning sensation crawling up her arms. It was…

It…

Oh god.

It fucking _hurt!_

Her eyes widened and she struggled out of Soul's grasp, screaming in pain and holding her arms out in front of her.

"Stop!" Soul commanded, he was holding her from under her knees and his grip on them tightened, "You're going to agitate it—knock it off!"

But she was panicking. Rational brain? What is that? There was only searing flesh and thick air and painful blinks into sun that was much too bright.

She didn't stay conscious for very long.


	3. Chapter 3

She knew what was going on long before any normal patient would have. Before she could feel the heaviness of her eyelids, the rawness of her throat with every breath she took, even before she could hear the muffled voices of people that were mildly familiar: she knew.

Maka was lying in a hospital bed, arms taped up to her shoulders, a thick and cool stack of gauze and what she guessed was a cooling agent on her neck. She had been taken to the hospital, and she had been sleeping for longer than a day.

She peeled her eyes opened and almost instantly regretted it, but made a conscious decision to not be the patient that made everything out worse than it was. She was _fine._

That's when she started choking on the breathing tubes running down the back of her throat. She sprang up in bed, pulling them out in a few scrambled motions, coughing loudly.

Waking up in hospitals was never graceful, so she wouldn't worry about how stupid she probably looked right now. She especially would ignore the jolt of pain from her neck.

Like she _said. _She was _fine._

Besides, even if she wasn't fine, she'd know just as well as any other nurse in this hospital what to do and how. Actually, she'd probably know _better._

She glanced around the room, breathing heavily, still coughing now and then, fighting the sandpaper-esk excuses for lungs hers were currently being. A tall glass of water was sitting on the side table and she grabbed it slowly, careful not to bump her forearms against anything. She downed the whole thing in one long draw, sighing loudly when she was done.

The voices just outside the room were getting louder.

One was particularly familiar…

It sounded like…

Her eyes widened, searching the room for a place to _hide _or _run away _or _anything at this point—_

The door slammed open before she could even haul her legs over the side of the bed.

"MAKAAAA!" A flash of red hair and green scrubs flew into the room, knocking over one of the fake plants near the door in the process. He didn't embrace her, but stood uncomfortably close, whimpering.

"Go _away, _dad."

"But my beautiful daughter! How could the boss send you to such a dangerous place! Away from my hospital, away from _me_!" he was frantic, tears and snot and the whole shebang.

"Are you kidding me?" She snapped, "You didn't even notice I was gone until now?"

But he didn't seem to hear a word she said, continuing on, now pacing in front of her,

"And _now _look what's happened! You almost DIED. Died Maka!"

"I'm fine." She hissed. He finally turned toward her,

"You are not!" He shouted. The sound made her head spin, ears ringing. Why was he always so loud? "You're the furthers thing from fine and as your PAPA I should have—"

"Mr. Albarn!"

Maka didn't expect it to be Tsubaki standing in the doorway. She didn't expect to see the woman anywhere outside something that wasn't strictly work related, of course. Like everyone else.

But there she was; dark hair in a high ponytail, hands crossed angrily across her chest, a sort of strict authority Maka didn't imagine the woman could ever have.

Spirit paled when he saw her, shutting up instantly.

"I know Maka is your daughter, but she needs rest right now! You're disturbing her." Tusbaki's voice had this strange ability to cycle between sweet and 'I fucking mean what I'm saying'.

"Yes Tsubaki, I'm… I'm sorry," he cleared his throat and Maka rolled her eyes. Either he'd had some sort of weird history with the woman, or, and this was probably _much _more realistic; her rather large… ahem… _assets _were probably keeping her father in line.

"I'm sorry baby!" Spirit said, turning to his daughter once more, "Papa loves you! I'm going to get you transferred out of that fire hall right away! Don't worry!" he sang over Tsubaki's shoulder and she forcefully shoved him outside the room.

"I won't hold my breath." Maka mumbled, pulling the covers off her legs. Tsubaki was back in a flash, scolding her for trying to get out of bed.

"Did you take this out yourself?" She asked, holding up the discarded breathing tube.

"Well, yeah."

"You still need oxygen." Tsubaki wheeled over a small tank, flipping a few switches she handed the mask to Maka. She was annoyed by it all, still willing herself to ignore the burn of every inhale.

"Thanks." She gritted. Tsubaki just smiled at her, and they stayed in silence for a long moment.

"So…" Maka finally said, uncomfortable, "Why uh… are you here?"

"Hm?" her head cocked to the side in complete innocence, "I'm your partner now! I need to look out for you, right?"

Maka blinked at her a few times, confused.

"What about… your shift? Or mine for that matter…"

"Jackie and Kim were happy to cover for you," She waved the idea off, "you just need to get better! You've been out for almost a whole day."

For the first time Maka noticed the crumpled uniform the woman was wearing, her slightly dishevelled appearance,

"Have you…" She was shocked to even be asking this question, "Been here the whole time?"

Tsubaki blushed a little, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck,

"Well, I mean, things didn't look… so good for you for a bit." Her expression hardened, "You know Maka… you really shouldn't have… done that." She winced, waiting for what Maka assumed was her to defend herself.

"Yeah, you're right." She huffed, taking another long inhale from the mask. That's when it suddenly struck her. "The boy?" She sat up quickly startling the other woman.

"He's fine!" She hummed, "you saved him, you know?"

Maka lay back in relief and closed her eyes.

_Thank goodness. _

The two were silent again for a long moment before Maka sat up once more,

"I'm fine now Tsubaki, really. You should go home and get some rest."

Tsubaki smiled,

"I really don't mind, honestly, I was just—"

"Go home Tsubaki."

Neither of them had noticed him standing in the door frame, his voice startling them both.

"S-soul!" Tsubaki greeted. The man walked into the room, hands buried in his pockets as he looked down at the girl planted in her hospital bed.

"Go home." He repeated. When she opened her mouth to protest he said, "I'll hang out here for a while."

"I really don't think that's—" Maka tried to protest, but Tsubaki just looked at both of them and smiled slightly,

"Okay. I'll come back tomorrow." She chirped, "Take it easy, Maka!" She was halfway out the door before turning around, serious, "Soul."

He grunted in response.

"Go easy on her."

And with that she was gone, leaving the two of them to stare awkwardly at each other. Maka fixed her face into her most 'don't lecture me I'll kill you' expression, while Soul's bored looking, half-lidded eyes traveled down her bandaged arms.

She was painfully aware that he was using her own injuries to make his point. She made a silent pack with herself to not use the oxygen tank in front of him.

He stared at her for a second before grabbing a chair and pulling it up next to her bed. Wordless, he sat and continued his silent interrogation.

_Not falling for this shit_.

Maka thought, holding his gaze with a ferocity that she knew would make him glance away almost instantly.

But he didn't.

He continued to look at her. His expression didn't change, but the more she stared back, the more she started to unravel what was behind it.

He wasn't _bored_, he was _curious. _

He had something he wanted to say, but he was waiting for her to say it first.

Well, she knew what he wanted her to say and it _wasn't _going to happen. Maka Albarn didn't apologize to _anyone._ Least of all when it involved saving a life.

She wasn't going to. No amount of this somehow-less-awkward-than-it-should-be stare off was going to change that.

Her eyes flitted down to his mouth for what was probably a split second but she knew it was too late. He had seen her do it. The mask of curiosity peeled away slightly.

She still wasn't going say sorry.

"Sorry." She huffed.

_Betrayed!_ By emotions she didn't even… What?

"Yeah." He replied, voice husky.

"Are you… mad?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." Again.

She looked away, lip jutted out in a show of stubborn indifference. A _show_ of stubborn indifference. She tried to ignore the plea of her chest for oxygen. She couldn't right now, it was like… admitting he was right.

"Well, whatever. I don't care." She lied.

"Maybe you should," he exhaled, finally uncrossing his arms and resting his elbows on the side of her bed, hands rubbing his forehead. Stressed? Tired? Maybe. She didn't reply and it took him a few moments before continuing, "You can _thank me _anytime now."

"Thanks." She said. Wait, she hadn't wanted to do that either. Alright, now her lungs were starting to _hurt_. She was sure he didn't notice the little gasps of breath she was taking instead of normal people stuff. He looked up at her, almost as if reading her mind and gave her an icy stare that would rival her own.

She swallowed thickly, glancing down at the oxygen tank on the ground. Before she could protest he was to his feet,

"You're supposed to be using this, idiot." He took the mask from her hand and she turned her head away,

"I don't need it, I'm fine!" Her voice shook dangerously, and she braced for having to push him off: he was going to _force _her to wear it. He was going to hold it onto her face like so many other doctors and nurses and hell even _she _had done to unruly, stubborn patients.

She had promised not to be one of those.

Well….

C'est La Vie I guess.

But he didn't grab her forehead violently, didn't even touch her at all. He just held it in front of her face and waited.

"Don't be like this." He said, more annoyed than anything. She eyed him for a moment before turning back, now only a few inches away from the mask. He gave her an expectant nod.

"I know you're stubborn," he said, "But you're not stupid."

She leaned forward, the mask pressing against her nose and mouth and took in a long, easy breath. Her body relaxed involuntarily, and she leaned forward. Her eyes slid shut and her hand came up to steady herself. She didn't mean to grab his wrist to do so, but he didn't shy away. In fact, the opposite. He sat down on the bed, still holding the mask against her face.

They stayed like this for a little, her breathing steadily the oxygen, hand still gripping his wrist, eyes still shut.

She wouldn't know that he was watching her intently, something a little more than concern and a little more like affection pulling him closer to her.

The realization of her exact situation was kind of like being thrown into a cold lake. Her eyes flew open, hand retracted and she snatched the mask from his hands.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" he said, standing off the bed quickly, raising his hands in defense, "relax, holy shit."

She winced, her forearm must have collided with him accidentally in the quick movement and now the _very apparent burns _on them stung painfully. She dropped the mask, fine for now with her oxygen level and prodded gently at her right arm.

"Fuck."

"Yeah, you're burned idiot." He plopped back into the chair, infinitely more nonchalant than before.

"And it fucking _hurts._" She wanted to change the bandages, to feel the cool air against her skin even though she knew it wouldn't help in the long run.

"Well, that's what happens when you run into a _burning building without any gear._" He hissed.

"Why do you care so much anyway?!" She hadn't meant to sound _so _angry, but she was a little preoccupied, a little annoyed, and a lot confused about his appearance at her hospital bed. Actually, she was pretty confused about why he ran into that building in the first place.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" He seemed offended, mostly pissed.

She paused for a moment, looking away defiantly.

"You don't want to get in shit with Sid." She muttered, "I'm part of your _job description _now." She sneered but when she looked back he looked even more disgusted.

"There's something wrong with you," he gritted, "If you seriously think I risked my _life _to pull you out of a building I _knew _was about to go down so that I wouldn't get in shit at work."

She blinked, her expression softening but his only getting angrier,

"I was in shit with Sid the second I fell out of a fucking window like a rookie. I then continued my decent the moment you decided to be Wonder Woman, but that's _not _why I went in after you."

"Then…"

"Because you had the balls to do what I didn't!" He shouted it loudly, fist colliding with the mattress in front of him. His hand stayed fisted against the sheets. It was only then she realized he _wasn't _angry at her, he was angry at _himself._

"You wanted to… go save that little boy?" She whispered. He just shot her a look and she smiled, "I mean, yeah, I know you did."

"But this," he gestured to her… everything, "This is why I wasn't supposed to. The building _wasn't safe._ I didn't just make that shit up. You're just lucky you're even alive, pigtails."

She could have scolded him for the use of the nickname, could have told him to get out, but instead just sighed.

"It's a lot less to do with luck I think," Her hand was possessed, she would swear to god, or maybe it was the drugs or something but it still moved over and lightly rested on top of his, "and a lot more to do with a certain reckless firefighter I know."

He smirked despite himself,

"You're one to fuckin' talk, kid." He grunted back.

She just smiled at him for a moment before he sighed, stretching his back and rolling his neck over his shoulders. He spoke through a yawn when he said:

"Sid's gonna tear you a new one."

###

It was only a few days after that that she was cleared to go home. She wished she could say she was surprised to see it was Soul who came to pick her up. He leaned against her doorframe in a way that she knew was feigned nonchalance.

It hadn't taken her long to figure out this was mostly an act with him.

The snowy haired firefighter sure worked hard to seem passive, disinterested, _cool._ Not that he wasn't cool, but Maka noticed the way he rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. She noticed the twitch of his mouth when someone said something that bothered him, the way his hands knotted through his shaggy hair when he wanted to leave a social situation—

He was shy. And more than that, he was _anxious. _

Confidence was a mask, and one that in the few days he spend sitting next to her bedside started to fall away.

"Ready?" he grunted at her, holding his keys up. She nodded, slinging a backpack of her belongings over her shoulders and following him out into the parking lot.

"I'm just over here." He pointed to something. Something _horrible._

"You've got to be _fucking kidding me._" Maka gritted

"What?"

She point to the offensive object.

A bright yellow motorcycle sat in its too-big parking spot.

"Oh god, don't start with me." Soul slung his leg over the bike and kicked up the stand. She just stood, arms crossed tightly, fuming a few feet back. His key turned in the ignition and the bike roared to life.

"I'm _not—"_

"Just get on," he groaned, pushing the bike towards her, "don't be like this."

"Do you know how many _mangled bodies—"_

"Do _you _know how long I've been riding? Maka, its fine. You're going to like it." He smirked at her, eyes mischievous.

"I can't believe you. I saw this—this—_thing _on my first day at the hall. You know what happens to people! You've seen it!" She knew she was making a scene. In all actuality, she kind of _wanted _to know what it would be like.

Wait. She did?

She stopped for a second, looking at the empty seat behind Soul.

Ah.

So that was it.

She felt her face heat up, something that she knew must be visual as well because Soul cocked his head, curious.

It wasn't so much the _bike _but the opportunity to be so close to him.

"What is it?" His tone was playful but it still startled her a little. She knew it was only a matter of time before she got on.

"FINE." She roared, starling him. He forgave it quickly, forgetting they even argued at all when she pressed firmly against his back, her arms twining around his waist.

He knew she was embarrassed, and, honestly, he was a little bit too. But it was too good an opportunity to pass up. He grinned, looking back at her. When she smiled sheepishly back, he gunned it out of the parking lot, her protests drowned in the wind that whipped past them.


	4. Chapter 4

Maka didn't know how surprised she'd be.

She never imagined something like this could happen so… quickly.

As she walked through the doors of the fire hall, a smile stretched across her face easily. Honestly, she kind of felt like laughing, as weird as it was.

She found Tsubaki in the locker room, the dark haired woman hugging her tightly, making doubly sure her partner was indeed in working condition. Maka promised she was and it wasn't a lie.

All her recovering made her itch for the rush of work again.

A rush that would have to wait apparently, because she needed to remember, this was a _fire hall._ Hardly called out to anything, it was more of a hang-out-and-eat-food-and-watch-daytime-TV environment than anything else.

A few weeks ago the prospect of that would have terrified her.

But now, as she sunk into the cushions of the worn out couch next to the Thompson sisters, the idea didn't seem so bad at all.

And it wasn't.

Between cards with Black Star, learning to cook with Jackie, watching Kid meticulously fold every single napkin at the table: she was starting to… _like _being here.

The only thing was, this was her fourth shift that Soul wasn't working.

It wasn't like she _needed _him around or whatever. I mean, all her calls had been pretty minor lately; just her and Tsubaki. There hadn't been a fire for a few weeks, and she did see him now and then. Like when they rolled over shifts, when she brought coffee in for everyone on her day off—

She would swear she had other motives than to catch a quick conversation with him.

He would swear that he wasn't smiling so much because of her appearance.

But when the _fifth _shift was scheduled with them working separately, it was Soul who knocked on Sid's door.

"Hmm?" The Captain answered,

"Captain, can I talk to you?" Soul sat down in the chair across from the large man.

"Looks like I don't have much a choice," Sid laughed, but placed a file down on his desk a little more harshly than he needed to.

"I'm just wondering… am I being punished for Albarn's behaviour?" He purposely didn't make eye contact, not wanting to seem like he was there for the wrong reasons.

Sid was silent for a long moment, looking Soul up and down before replying,

"No, not at all, what makes you ask that?"

"It's just that I was supposed to, you know, watch out for her and now… We haven't worked together since, uh, _it_ happened." Soul finally looked up at him. The Captain just sighed.

"Soul. You're supposed to watch out her for but… I just worry that, well," he measured the fire fighters expression, "I'm worried she's going to be a bad influence on you."

There was more silence between the two of them before Soul burst out laughing.

"You're worried that _Maka _will be a bad influence on me!?"

"I don't see _what's so funny._" Sid threatened, Soul chocked his laughter down to a few short snorts before replying,

"Sir, that's really not going to be a problem."

"I certainly hope not. I'm not about to let one of my best men think it's okay to run headlong into a life threatening situation. That's not the kind of man I am." He crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair, "But if you think you're not going to pick up any… habits from her, I'll schedule you together again."

Soul stood to his feet,

"Thank you sir," he tried to supress his smile, instead fixing his expression to indifference. He turned, walking out of the door.

"Get rid of that bike, Eater!" Sid shouted after him. Soul just snorted again,

"Don't be so hard on Albarn, you two are more alike than you think!" He yelled back.

So that's what brought them to this exact moment.

The moment of Soul sitting on the couch, and Maka sitting next to him, head in a book, feet on his lap. It was strangely comfortable, strangely affectionate, strangely natural,

Strangely… Nice.

He hadn't noticed no one else was in the room until Kilik strode out of the room mumbling something about third wheeling or something. Soul was quick to notice that Maka didn't.

He sunk deeper into the cushions, and she absently adjusted her feet to give him more movement. He didn't notice his hand had come to rest just above her knee when he was comfortable again.

She did.

She was sure he was just absently watching TV, sure that he didn't mean it as… Well, maybe not.

Her book became quickly very boring and she became quickly aware that the rest of the fire hall was preoccupied with other things that kept them out of the room the two were in right now.

"Soul,"

He jumped a little, removing his hand from her leg like it had been slapped off.

"Ha?" he replied,

She fidgeted a little,

"I'm… glad we're working together again." She mumbled. He relaxed visibly, shoulders sagging, expression softening. His arms came up behind his head and he looked back at the television.

"Oh, yeah same."

She sat up a little more and he kept pretending he didn't notice she was getting incrementally closer to him.

"I don't want to be like, a burden or anything." She pursed her lips, "If Sid still has you babysitting me or whatever, I'm sorry."

"What? No, of course not. He doesn't. And besides, you don't need that shit anymore." He paused, looking at her finally, smiling, "I _hope._"

She laughed,

"I don't. I just… yeah."

"You just save people for a living." His smile fell a little, but it wasn't disappointment or anger, it was a sort of gentle understanding, "I do too, don't forget that shit. I know… How you feel. With all the red-tape and bullshit. I hate it."

One: she didn't realize she was grabbing his upper arm.

Two: she didn't realize she was almost entirely in his lap.

Three: she didn't mind that he had gone quiet, that their faces were inching closer and closer together. His eyes wandered from hers to focus on her mouth for a long while before one of hiFs hands was on her jawline. White hair brushed against her forehead. Her breath hitched as his feathered her lips—

Four: the fucking fire bell went off.

Like being woken up with a bucket of icy water, Maka flew back away from Soul, almost falling off the couch entirely. He caught her by the wrists, pulling her forward into an awkward but fall-saving embrace. He laughed quietly when she squealed.

He was to his feet, lifting her along with him easily. She found her footing fairly quickly and he spun around her,

"Sorry," he laughed again, nervous, "Fires and shit,"

He jogged out of the room and Maka watched after him, a little dumbfounded.

Neither of them heard nor saw the group of coworkers loudly groaning and shouting about 'bad timing' and 'those two never growing the balls to do it' from outside the glass of the other room.

Tsubaki had to shush them before running in and fetching the still-dazed Maka.


	5. Chapter 5

She didn't want it to be a fire.

She _didn't _want it to be a fucking fire.

She wasn't sure she was ready for it to be that. She knew what she had told Sid, what she had Soul, but underplaying fear was kind of one of Maka's talents.

Not that she wanted it to be.

But as she slowly slid out of the passenger seat of her ambulance, she couldn't look away from the blazing inferno in front of her.

The old abandoned factory was sending tall flames into the air, smoke blocking out the sun almost entirely. If the flames weren't so bright and hot, Maka was sure they'd all be in shadow.

They had been separated from the truck for only a few blocks, but already it looked like the firefighters had been on the scene for hours. Most of them Maka couldn't spot, the truck was parked haphazardly across the boulevard—hose out, Liz and Patti were spraying at the building while Kid screamed orders into his walkie-talkie.

Maka scanned for Soul, but he wasn't there. He must be…

She sighed in relief as figures started emerging from the inside. Grabbing her med bag, she jogged quickly over to them. Soul and Black Star were both hauling people out, arms under their shoulders.

"What the—" Maka leaned under the teenage girl on Soul's arm, hooking under her shoulder and pulling her away from everything.

"Teenagers fucking around, lighting shit up!" Black Star roared, furious. Soul shook his head, muttering something under his breath.

"Please…" the girl on Maka's arm looked up at her, tears streaming down her face. Under the dirt and burns, she was pretty: long blonde hair, an expensive looking dress, "my friend, she's still—"

Before she could finish what she was saying, a large explosion rocked them. Fire shot out from the large double doors, a few large windows smashed out towards them. Kid and Liz both swore in unison.

Without even having the chance to respond, Maka and the girl were knocked to the ground. It took her a moment to realize Soul had dove onto them, shielding them with his body. His hands on both of their heads, his mouth was near Maka's ear.

"You okay?" He turned to her, worried. She nodded, eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't… go back in there." She whispered.

He didn't respond, just looked at her for a long second before standing to his feet, dragging both Maka and the girl up with him.

"The barrels!" Kid shouted over to them, "The barrels inside, they didn't clear them out! They're—"

Another explosion made Maka stumble forward, arm up quickly to protect her face.

"They're 'spolding!" Black Star bellowed.

"… Yes. They're—fuck, just move!" Kid shouted back.

Black Star was already helping the two teenagers he'd pulled from the wreckage towards Tsubaki at the ambulance. She ushered them inside.

"Maka!" She called.

This was the first time she'd experienced something like this.

But, for the first time in her life, she didn't forget her surroundings. She didn't drop everything and rush over to the injured. Her mental 'fuck it,' didn't click in.

Instead, she turned to Soul.

"Please." Was all she said. Again, he didn't respond, but he didn't have much of a chance. The girl in his arm tore away from him, screaming.

From the ambulance, the other teens starting calling after the girl.

"Anya!"

"She's _still inside!_" Anya yelled, running headlong toward the building.

Soul swore loudly, Liz dropped the hose, both running for the girl but she was fast. Their clunky gear just slowed them down as Anya crashed through the large double doors. Liz stumbled back, falling and pushing herself away from the searing heat.

But Soul didn't.

Maka watched in horror as he followed the girl closely, not hesitating as he ran straight into the building.

There was a moment of stillness. Of not knowing exactly what had happened or why it had happened. All anyone knew was:

It was bad.

It was like everyone broke out of their trance all at once, a few things happened so quickly.

Kid was shouting into his walkie, yelling for Soul to _get out of their right fucking now!_

Maka wasn't thinking, her usual fuck it fuck it fuck it FUCK IT kicking in full force—she hardly knew what she was doing as she starting running, tripping but running towards the building. Tsubaki was screaming something to her, Liz was to her feet, catching Maka before she could make it any farther.

"Let _go!" _Maka wailed, fighting the woman.

"No! Listen to me!" Liz was pulling her away, arms locked around Maka, vice-like. The small girl could do nothing against the firefighters grip, but still she struggled.

"But Soul is—"

"Soul is a _firefighter! _He's going… he's going to be fine!" But Maka caught the waver in her voice, caught the fear in her eyes as her grip loosened only the slightest bit.

Another barrel exploded, more glass falling around them, a fireball shot into the air. Maka screamed his name again, her eyes welling, throat tightening.

"Fuck. THIS!" It was Black Star, walking quickly towards the building.

"Don't you _fucking _dare!" Kid tried to stop him but was shouldered roughly by the blue haired man, determined.

"Useless no good motherfucker," Black Star was mumbling in a voice that was the furthest thing from a mumble.

Maka felt a strange hope spread through her body.

It was going to be okay.

Everything was going to be fine.

It was all just—

The next explosion blew everyone off their feet.

Maka's head spun, her vision swam. She'd hit her head.

Voices came back to her slowly, sound was delated…

Black Star was dragging Liz away who was unmoving. Patti had run to his side, both hauling her into the ambulance. Tsubaki was fretting over her. Kid was shouting into something else, not his headset.

He was…

Calling for more help?

Maka sat up, gravel biting into her forearms as she lifted herself.

She turned around.

Her stomach dropped.

There wasn't a building anymore. Just a pile of rubble and flames, a heap of twisted metal and loose bricks.

And Soul had never come out.


	6. Chapter 6

It was still.

It was strange that everything was so still.

The flames still reached into the sky, the building still smoked with the aftereffects of falling: debris and rubble danced with smoke, making it almost impossible to see and even harder to breathe.

And yet, Maka still somehow found the air enough to scream—the sound cutting through the daze of every worker on site.

Maybe it was shock, maybe it was the lack of visibility, but no one even tried to hold her back as she scrambled towards the wreckage.

The fire was diminishing, running out of barrels to explode and wood to eat through. Patti was back at the hose, Maka assumed, because the sound of it was still loud in the background, the fire becoming dimmer and dimmer.

That didn't help with the darkness settling around them.

Maka coughed violently as she stumbled through rubble. Her leg caught on a barb and tore into her pants. She could feel blood start to pool around her ankle, but ignored it.

That's when she heard it.

"Over here!" A hoarse voice cut through the air and her heart quickened. She ran as fast as she could, almost falling when her ankle rolled over a few bricks but she caught herself, pushing forward.

"Call out!" Maka shouted, throat still tight. Her voice didn't sound right, it didn't sound like her.

"Here!" It was a young girl. Maka found her only a moment later, hands reaching through rubble. She fell to her knees, pulling away pricks and warm, charred cement.

"They're here!" Maka shouted behind her, "They're here, I need help!"

Again, not something the pigtailed girl thought she'd ever catch herself saying. But it didn't matter, there wasn't a prideful drop of blood in her body right now.

She continued digging through, the young girl, Anya, finally emerging. The girl gasped for air as Black Star, Kid and Tsubaki all appeared through the thick smoke.

"Oh shit," Black Star was next to Maka in a heartbeat, pulling away rocks and bricks much faster than she could. Kid joined him quickly, but Maka didn't stop. She couldn't look away from where they were digging. Her hands bled, cut in a few places, her lungs burned, but her eyes—she could hardly see anything through the tears.

Tsubaki had Anya, oxygen over her mouth as she spoke softly to the girl, her best 'I'm not panicked everything is fine' voice in full force. Everyone knew it was a farce.

"I've got something!" Kid shouted from a few feet away. Everyone stopped, rushing to him. It was the other girl, a dark haired teen with pigtails to rival Maka's.

"Not responding, Tsubaki! Get over here!"

She was there in a flash, respirator in hand. She put her face against the girls chest, her forefingers digging into her neck.

"There's a pulse." Tsubaki said, waiting silently. "And…"

She sat up quickly,

"Breath! She's breathing!" She beamed. Kid nodded,

"Alright, get her to the ambo—now." He turned to Black Star but the man hesitated, "Is there a_ problem?_" Kid gritted.

"Yeah there's a _fucking problem!" _Maka's own tone caught her off guard. She hadn't meant to sound so angry. The two men stared at her, stunned, "Soul!" tears spilled down her cheek, "we need to find…"

"Maka. We—"

"No! The girl can wait!" She knew that wasn't true, but didn't care what she had to say. She didn't…

She didn't care?

That wasn't right. That wasn't _her._

She was back to digging, fingernails mangled and bleeding.

"Albarn." Kid's voice took on a new sound. Even. Threatening.

"Then take her! Go and hurry back!" She kicked away a huge rock as Black Star hoisted the dark haired girl across his shoulders, running to the ambulance with Tsubaki at his heels. Kid helped Anya to her feet, hurrying her back as well.

That's when she heard it.

A faint beeping, a small red light struggling to shine against thick black air.

She was confused for only a second before it hit her.

It was a PASS device.

Soul had told her about it briefly, and she'd heard about it training. It was something all the firefighters used, a little censor that monitored the movement of whoever was wearing it. If they didn't move for long enough…

Maka was beside it in a flash; it was about ten feet away. Her breath was caught in her throat, but she'd only moved a few rocks before she knew.

It was him.

She inhaled sharply before yelling for the others, removing the rubble and pulling him out. His PASS's beeping almost deafening as she turned him over.

Face caked in smoke, she pushed his helmet off roughly before tearing open his jacket.

"Soul!" She shook him but he didn't respond. Eyes closed, body limp, she pulled him into her, his head on her lap.

Black Star was the first to return, panting, out of breath.

He watched as the girl started to panic almost instantly.

"He's not—he's not breathing." She said it more evenly then she should have been able to, but she was back into paramedic mode. On her knees next to him, she started chest compressions quickly.

Black Star didn't respond. He felt his expression harden.

She gave Soul a few breathes, before back to compressions.

"Come on. Come on Soul." Maka muttered, eyes trained on his face, "Come on."

She was working too long. Impossibly long.

Nothing.

_No…_

More breathes, back to compression. Her hands ached, arms burning.

Blood was pooling from her mangled hands from digging, but she didn't stop.

"Maka…" Black Star's hand was on her shoulder, "Stop… he's… it's…"

"No!" She roared, pushing him off, getting back to it, "No he's not!"

"Maka!" Black Star's voice was pained, "He's not—"

"Soul Eater Evans!" Maka's fist came down hard against his chest, "You will wake up _right this fucking minute!" _Her fist slammed down again. Again and again.

She collapsed against his chest. Hands fisting clumps of his shirt, tears streaming down her face. Her voice was small when she spoke again,

"Please…"

"I dono if…" her eyes widened at the voice, "beating me up counts as medical care."

She say bolt upright, disbelief seeping through her veins.

Soul was looking back at her, eyes half lidded, small smug dumb fucking _smile on his face_.

Before she could even open her mouth, she was pushed aside by a very excited blue haired fireman.

"You MOTHERFUCKER!" he shouted, lifting Soul off the ground and shaking him.

"Ow, _ow!" _

Maka pushed Black Star off, sending him to the ground.

"Don't _shake him!_" She said. Black Star didn't even seem to notice she'd pushed him away, he just crawled back over to Soul.

"You're such a badass, trying to steal my thunder, eh?" He slapped Soul on the back and Maka pulled him away from the man, planting him in her lap again. She glared at Black Star,

"I _mean _it!"

"Like a fuckin' PHENOIX or something!" Black Star laughed loudly.

"Or something." Soul hummed back before coughing harshly. Maka's hand was on his back, his arm draped over her leg, helping him sit up.

Black Star yelled something back to Tsubaki before running off to get her. Soul turned to the paramedic whose lap he was still snuggled into a little bit.

"Scare yah?" he grunted.

She nodded quickly, trying to avert his gaze.

"Well, now you know how it feels." His voice sounded like it hurt to speak, but his hand had found its way to her face.

She was going to tell him off.

Use all the ammunition everyone had used on her in the past. She knew just what to say, knew _just _what to do.

She couldn't run into danger?! Well what the fuck was he doing?!

She was gonna tear him a new one!

Instead, she just nodded again, relief clouding her expression, a big hot tear spilling down her cheek. He noticed it, moving quickly towards her.

He caught her mouth with his. She was still for a moment before leaning into him, her eyes fluttering shut as she kissed him feverishly. He pulled back to inhale sharply before wincing.

She stopped, pulling away, embarrassed,

"I—I'm sorry!" She chirped. He just laughed,

"Oh yeah?" He hummed, hand not leaving her face.

"I just…"

He held his arms out, grabbing her around the shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Take me home," he whispered into his ear.

She buried her face in his shoulder, grinning despite herself.

Because she knew what home was.

She knew it was the Fire Hall.

And it was hers too.

Finally.

_A/N:_

_Thank you so much for reading! This was for ResBang, and I hope you liked it! Review, lemme know if you liked it! _

_Thanks again, if you want to see the art made for this story, check out the master post at grigoriwings. yuku. com_


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